There are many ways of doing business. The prevalence of one model over another is often determined by inertia — the historical enemy of innovation — as well as, perhaps, trends. However, since all innovation is both the cause and effect of change, it is more than legitimate to ask why change things that already work. The answer, often forgotten by business leaders overwhelmed by ten thousand little daily questions, is this: nowhere is it written that things which work today will definitely work tomorrow.

Let’s think about what has happened over the last ten to twenty years. Unsinkable companies, brands, and business models have disappeared at the speed of shooting stars, and then the pandemic delivered the coup de grâce. Today, the most highly capitalised companies in the world are those that invent, produce, and distribute goods and services using tools and forms of digital intelligence. This fact obviously does not imply absolute intangibility. It is not enough to make a product, it must also be made available: the anonymous parcel from who-knows-where will rely on the support of roads, infrastructures, motor vehicles, and, of course, people.

Other than digitalisation, the primary driver of change in our age is the climate. A business model that does not take this into account is thus doomed to failure: Government institutions, central banks, and credit institutions will only support initiatives that are consistent with environmental sustainability.

The question is therefore how to respond to digitalisation, environmental sustainability, and the new security needs resulting from the pandemic; a problem further complicated by the need to raise and spread the standards of wellbeing and quality of life to which we are accustomed.

We believe that the solution lies in identifying a business model—effective, efficient, and sustainable in the long term—that puts companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, on the path to growth.

Missaglia has adopted a development model based on two principles: mission orientation and project partnership. This offers the advantage of making the three drivers of growth work together:

• strategic vision
• market knowledge and insights
• innovative technological expertises

By sharing mission orientation and forming project alliances, companies which are typologically different but culturally related can tackle otherwise unsolvable problems with a reasonable chance of success. This is the rationale behind the creation of The Missaglia Hub, an incubator of ideas and methods for innovation and sustainable growth.

Missaglia's mission is to contribute to improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of patients and healthcare workers in hospitals and care homes through technological, cultural, and process innovation.
One strategic instrument is partnership: the creation of project alliances facilitates the pooling of innovative skills among scientific institutions, applied research laboratories, technology start-ups, and manufacturing companies.